


Learning Curve

by TheEntireFangirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat Noir POV, Fluff, Gen, Ladybug POV, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Sparring, a lil bit of angst in the second chapter, and i kinda wanted to play around with that, basically i wondered what their relationship looked like in the first few weeks after origins yknow?, i might add more if i get ideas but for now i'm marking this done, no archive warnings apply to first and third chapters, second chapter has its own trigger warnings in the notes beforehand, very cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEntireFangirl/pseuds/TheEntireFangirl
Summary: While Ladybug and Chat Noir may be partners, they're still not familiar with each other. They have a lot to learn—both about what they're doing and who they are. What does it mean to be the defender of Paris? What's it like to be in a fight? And—most importantly—who is this person they call their partner?In the first few weeks after Stoneheart's attack, there's a big learning curve--but they'll be with each other to figure it out.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Kudos: 22





	1. Think we should get moving?

“So, Milady, what do you think we should do?” Chat Noir asked.

Marinette—Ladybug—looked across the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower. So many lights... so many people. And she stood at the top of it all. How could that be?

Tikki told her to meet Chat so they could talk, but what did they have to talk about? So long as there was no akuma and they couldn’t know each other’s identities, conversation wasn’t a flowing tap so much as a melting icicle.

“Milady?” he asked. She snapped her head to him, the lights of the city still leaving marks on her vision.

“Oh... I guess we should, uh, learn the city?” She didn’t know it very well, other than her small territory. If they would be the ones defending it, they should know it inside and out, right?

His eyes lit up—they had the same night-visiony-glow that cats get in the right light, but instead of seeming mysterious, they were just playful. His cat eye pupils were wide.

“Sounds like a plan,” he said, grabbing his staff. “Lead the way.”

She took a deep breath and unhooked her yoyo from her belt, swinging it in circles to get ready. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered to herself.

Releasing the yoyo before she was ready, it flew at one of the larger trees surrounding the area. She half-expected it to get caught in the leaves, but it hooked firmly on a branch, and before she was ready, it tugged her downward, barely keeping pace with how fast she was falling. It was as the tree was getting larger and the ground nearer that she realized she had no plan for landing.

If this was an isolated incident, perhaps it would have happened in slow motion. But no—this happened three times on her way to the Eiffel Tower, and it happened painfully fast. One moment she was falling toward the ground and the next she was face-down on the grass.

Before she even opened her eyes, Chat was beside her, lifting her arm to help her up. She rolled over and sat up with his help, dodging his eyes.

“Now I know what you meant by Madly Clumsy.”

“What?”

“When we met. We got all tangled up in your yoyo, and you said you were _madly clumsy_.”

“Oh.” She’d forgotten about that. Better he know the truth right off the bat than know her name, she supposed, but her face still went red at the thought of her saying that. She stood up and turned away.

“Where should we go?” she asked.

He stood beside her and put his hands on his hips. “Maybe we should just follow the River Seine east for the night.”

She nodded. It was a sensible plan, and it would cover a lot of ground.

As she prepared her yoyo again, he winked at her and jumped up on his staff. She rolled her eyes and threw her yoyo at a lamp post—and to her surprise, it hooked.

When she found herself flying through the air rather than at the pole, she released a breath and allowed herself to smile.

“Getting the hang of this, I see,” Chat said, keeping pace with her on his staff. She managed to pull her yoyo off the first streetlight and hook it on a second—all before she hit the ground.

Ladybug rolled her eyes in response. In the corner of her eye, she saw his mouth pull apart into a smile wide enough to show his pearly-white teeth.

The motions weren’t too hard—all in muscle memory, she supposed. Which would be easier to create if she didn’t doubt every move she made.

“So, what’s your kwami’s name?” he asked.

She glanced at him, watching the way he concentrated on what was in front of him despite the question he posed, how his tongue stuck out of his mouth a little bit—

_Bang_.

Right into a lamp post.

Her forehead hit it and she fell onto the ground bottom first. Even though she didn’t land on her back, she still laid down, wallowing in her mistake and rubbing her forehead. At least being transformed helped with the pain.

Chat stood above her, green eyes wide and mouth gaping. She let her own eyes roll back in her head.

“I’m fine,” she promised. “Just clumsy.”

“Madly so, I hear.”

“You’d be right about that.”

When he offered his arm out to her, she waved it away, instead just closing her eyes to avoid the blazing lamp post overhead. She heard him lay down in the soft grass next to her.

“So, are you always this clumsy?” he asked.

“You have no idea.”

“Sorry for distracting you.”

“It was my fault. Don’t worry about it.”

They laid there for a minute more. She opened her eyes and turned his head to him—he was chest-down, chin resting on his arm, examining one of the final clovers left from the summer, swiping at it with his claw.

“You never did answer,” he said.

“What?”

“What’s your kwami’s name?”

She combed through her bangs with her fingers and then smiled a little. “Tikki. Yours?”

“Plagg.”

She nodded and looked back up to the lamp, closing her eyes again.

“Think we should get moving?” she asked.

A moment with wind and cars and nothing else.

“Nah.”


	2. Make a Habit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings for: Mild violence (including two men mugging a woman) (nothing graphic). Feel free to skip this chapter if need be!

“So, Milady, ready to head west?” Chat asked, leaning on his staff the way one would lean on a cane while tap dancing.

“Southwest,” she corrected. “I think we should split the west section of the city into two.”

“Lead the way.” He threw the staff up as it shortened, his wild smile unmistakably _him_.

Ladybug through her yoyo to the north, aiming at a tree. Unfortunately the buildings around the Eiffel Tower were all so short, which made swinging much harder for her, but they were going to one of the more urban parts of the city, where the buildings would be much taller.

“So, how was your day?” Chat asked as they flew through the sky.

“Same as yesterday.”

She looked over at him to see his pout. Yesterday, she’d said the same thing, and the day before, she said, “Ask me that when you know my name.”

In honesty, she didn’t know if they were _allowed_ to talk about that stuff, but there was an unspoken rule not to acknowledge how weird their dynamic really was, so she didn’t want to say it. Plus, it was kinda funny seeing Chat pout every day without fail. He had to expect it by now, so it was all a performance.

They continued to make their way to the western portion of the city, the buildings growing as they did. Ladybug gradually began to swing higher and higher, allowing for more freedom.

After just a few days, she finally had the hang of it. She was still clumsy, but in the air, there’s not nearly as much to trip and fall on. There’s a certain freedom to flying.

“Wanna see something cool I figured out?” Chat asked.

Ladybug rolled her eyes but smiled and nodded a little. He pulled ahead of her, jumping off his staff entirely and swirling it in the air like a baton. It created a helicopter effect and he glided to the ground.

“Wow,” she said, eyebrows raised. “That’s impressive.”

He grinned up at her. “I know. I wonder how it’ll come in handy.”

She was about to say something in response when a scream sounded from up the street. “Fire!” it screamed. The voice was high pitched, shrill. Terrified.

“Fire! Fire!”

A knot tied in Ladybug’s stomach. She sped up toward the voice, Chat following close behind.

When she arrived at the alley, all her suspicions were confirmed. There was no fire, just a woman being attacked by two men—one pulled her back by her shoulders and the other was tearing through a leather purse.

Without thinking about it, Ladybug lept into action. She jumped down onto the wet concrete and wrapped her yoyo around the first man’s neck. He immediately let go of the woman, and she ran away, but the other guy guarded the alley entrance—Chat hit him atop the head with his staff, and he dropped the purse. The woman slipped through.

The man Ladybug had pinned was now pulling back. He stepped downward on her foot, and reflexively one of her hands dropped the yoyo. He started to run, and Chat was already dealing with the other one, who ran down the alley. Ladybug, standing on one foot, threw the yoyo at the man’s legs and tugged. He fell on his face.

Chat tackled the other one and pinned him on the ground. She quickly secured the yoyo in a tight knot around the legs of the first guy, and didn’t wait to ask Chat to watch the criminals before she grabbed the purse and ran after the woman.

She hadn’t made it very far down the street—at least, not relative to Ladybug’s super speed. When she reached the woman, she was unsure of how to approach, but the woman ended up falling to her knees on the ground and crying.

Ladybug crouched down next to her. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “I—I was so—”

“Do you need a hug?” Ladybug asked.

The woman just sobbed and nodded. Carefully, she wrapped the woman in her arms and guided her head to her shoulder. They sat there for a moment more.

“Do you want to go to the police station with me and Chat Noir?” Ladybug whispered into her shoulder. “You don’t have to. We can go alone, too.”

“I’ll go,” she responded. “Just—Keep me away from them.”

Ladybug nodded. “Whenever you want to go is when we’ll leave.”

They stayed there for a moment more, Ladybug’s arms wrapped around this woman. Finally, she pulled away and Ladybug stood up.

“I’m Ladybug,” she said, holding out her hand for the woman to shake.

“Leslie.” They shook and Ladybug handed her purse back. She secured it over her shoulder.

Arm wrapped around Leslie’s shoulder, Ladybug led her back to the alley. The criminals were now tied up in the yoyo, back-to-back, and Chat stood over them.

“The police are on their way,” he said.

_Thank you_ , Ladybug mouthed.

His head dipped, a barely perceivable nod, in recognition.

* * *

After they did everything at the police station and Ladybug got Leslie home safe, she and Chat ended up back on the Eiffel Tower. Her legs dangled toward the city, but she only looked at her lap.

“Are you okay?” He stood behind her, his warm knee brushing against her back. 

“Fine,” she lied.

He sat down next to her, a few inches away.

“You know, we don’t just have to protect the city against supervillains. We can protect against anyone who it needs protecting from.”

She looked at him to see his eyebrows knitted together and lips parted. He lifted his hand in a fist. “Pound it?” he asked.

The corners of her mouth quirked up and she raised her fist to match his. “Pound it.”

“How about we make a habit out of this?”

“Out of what?”

“Exploring the city. Preventing crime, and not just super-crime. Spending time together.”

“Not just when we’re getting the hang of things?”

“Nope. Tomorrow, and a month from now, and a year from now. And if you want a fancy name for it, we can even call it _patrolling_.”

Her lips pulled into a proper smile. “You’re sure you won’t get bored of me, Kitty?”

“I could never get bored of you, Milady.”

She rolled her eyes, but had to prevent her teeth from peaking through the gap between her lips.


	3. The Dance

“So, where are we patrolling today?” Chat asked.

“We’re not,” Ladybug responded. “We’re sparring.”

One of his eyebrows flicked up. “Oh?”

In one hand, she had a big black bag and in the other she swung her yoyo. “Follow me.”

Before he had his staff out, she was off. He released an amused huff and followed her.

They ended up on one of the larger Paris rooftops, where there were mats and stuff set out on the ground—for sparring.

“What’s all this?” he asked as she dumped the contents from the bag.

“Sparring gear. Helmets and chest plates mostly. I don’t assume we’ll punch at each other enough to split knuckles.”

She put on the helmet, a meshy foam material that velcroed around her chin, then slipped the chest plate around her shoulders. “Lace it up,” she said, turning her back to him. It had strings that needed to be tied like a corset.

Without thinking about it, he grabbed it and began to lace everything together.

“What’s taking so long?” she asked after he got the strings through the second loops—there were five in total.

“It’s hard to tie things through when you have claws.” His tongue poked out of his mouth as he worked. “Besides, how often do you tie corsets?”

She didn’t respond, instead just waiting for him to finish up. When she did, she grabbed his chest plate and forced it over his head, going to his back to tie it up quickly—and tight. He might have felt uncomfortable if he wasn’t used to being poked and prodded and dressed in clothes too tight.

He grabbed the helmet and put it on, but it couldn’t reach all the way down.

“Uh... Milady...” He ruffled through the hair around his cat ears.

She smiled. “I guess you’ll just have to go without it, then.”

He gritted his teeth—it was all a show, and she surely knew that, but it was fun anyway. “Maybe don’t kick me in the head, if you’re feeling generous.”

She giggled into her hand. “No promises.”

They both stepped onto the mat—it was a cloudless night, and though hardly any stars still shone in Paris, it would have been romantic under different circumstances. He’d have candles and roses instead of what seemed to be a camping lantern and sparring gear.

They both began to circle each other around the mat, arms up and hands in fists.

“So why are we doing this?” he asked.

“I’m assuming you never had to fight a criminal before you got your Miraculous?”

Fair enough, he supposed. He’d done fencing for years, but those were all controlled, with rules and sportsmanship and all that. They’d defeated a half dozen akumas by now and he still scrambled in every fight they had.

“So we’re training?” he asked, still walking in circles opposite of her.

“Exactly. We should be able to defend ourselves with or without our weapons—what is our super strength for otherwise?”

She finally lunged at him, going for a punch to his chest—right in the center. He narrowly dodged it, pushing to the left then stepping forward immediately to elbow her shoulder. It hit right where he aimed, and she staggered back, clutching her shoulder.

“Sorry!” he gasped. “I didn’t mean to—”

When she let go of her shoulder and looked back to him, her blue eyes sparkled in the light of the lantern. “Nice shot,” she said. “Let’s go again.”

Chat slowly got back into position, circling Ladybug again. He didn’t want to embarrass her, or worse yet, hurt her, so he just kept circling until she made the first move.

She didn’t wait for him long, coming in with a kick this time—a big swooping motion to his torso. He blocked it with his forearm and it clumsily fell to the ground. She didn’t wait for his next move, though—immediately, she was punching his chest.

He turned around and sent a kick backwards, his heel set to connect with her stomach. She didn’t stay in place, though, turning to the side and grabbing his leg at the knee.

There wasn’t much he could do now—she didn’t let go and he had to place his arms on the ground just to keep from falling face-first. When Ladybug realized exactly the power she had in him, she started to push his leg in a circle—and he had no choice but to keep up with her, resulting in him doing the dumbest dance ever. He would have been upset if not for how cute her laughter was.

“Maybe look where you aim when you kick,” she told him as she released his leg. He stuck his tongue out at her.

“Another go?” he asked. This time, he was determined to win—if only because of the dance.

They circled each other for a moment, but this time Chat didn’t wait for her to start the fight. He went for a roundhouse kick to her perfectly padded head, which—to his surprise—actually connected. It didn’t end up dazing her, though, and she was ready for the attack by the time he was firmly on the ground again.

She chopped at his arm, the motion turning more circular as it went on until his wrist was firmly in her grasp. She tried to let it go but she was suddenly behind him, their hips connected at the rear. It was only a second more until she pushed his shoulder with her open hand—and he ended up falling over her hip, head-first to the mat.

She stood over him triumphantly, but he wasn’t ready to lose yet. He turned over onto his stomach and grabbed her ankle, pulling aggressively. He couldn’t get her on the ground but she was off-balance enough that when he rotated his thigh, she came tumbling down.

Directly on top of him.

At least she couldn’t see the blush on his face.

“That’s cheating!” she seethed, but behind her voice was laughter. “You can’t do that!”

He turned over again so he could meet her face—her legs still poured over his thighs, but he could ignore them. “Who said?” he asked. “You gave _very_ unclear rules.”

Her eyes narrowed, but her face broke out into a smile after. The laughter was more than enough to fill the night sky.

“I do declare this a draw,” he said, sitting up and carefully pushing Ladybug’s legs off his. After he stood, he extended a hand to her. She accepted.

“I’d argue, but there’s no way to change your mind.”

He winked. “I could name a few.”

“ _Chaaaat_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where I'm ending it! Might update it if I have another idea but for now you can assume it's finished. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments :)


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